September 2022 Featured Member Interview
Aman Sehgal - @AmanSehgal
Pronouns: He, Him
Company: CyberCX
Job Title: Senior Data Engineer
Could you give a brief description of your professional journey to date?
A. I started my career as software developer. I came to Melbourne to do my post-grad, and was introduced to Spark as part of my thesis. After post-grad I joined the largest retailer in Australia - Coles; and was there for 3 years.
At Coles I was exposed to Databricks, specifically Azure Databricks and used Spark knowledge on Databricks. Since then I have been building skills since some of the first versions of the Databricks platform.
What sort of duties do you have at work?
A. Now my title is Senior Data Engineer. I am given a use case design and a pipeline and I evaluate if Databricks is great fit. and I also help customers control their costs with Databricks via monitoring usage and performance.
I really enjoy leading projects that are powered by Databricks.
What’s the most exciting / fun / interesting use case with Databricks?
A. To see dashboards! Recently I had a client that did not have to even bother with (or spend money/resources on) PowerBI or Tableau because of this!
They were able to show a story of data in lakehouse in just 3 days - which is cool.
You can pump in a lot of data into lakehouse. Management doesn't always understand the value when you tell them, but as I mentioned above, my client was able to show all in ReDash for his management and leadership teams to understand first hand the value it provided. And a bonus: they don’t have to talk to MSFT or others for licensing, etc. The analysts are happy, management is happy, and DE was happy. 😊
What is your favorite thing about your current job/role?
A. Being able to research and test use cases, and then being able to implement then. I also have the opportunity to learn a lot, and then put those learnings into practice with real data sets.
What are three words your coworkers would use to describe you?
A. Dependable, researcher, and “news man”... because they think I typically know company news because I read a lot.
Do you have any mentors in your professional life?
A. I am a self learner! and I take pieces of greatness from a variety of people . 👍🏻
Do you have a favorite Databricks feature? Something that makes your life a lot easier? Or more interesting?
A. DLT (Delta Live Tables) - I wasn't sure about it at first based on the preview I saw, but there have been lots of improvements since GA.
It's my favorite right now because you can see workflows in the provided visualization, and you can apply changes easily. That makes my life easier.
Is there a Databricks feature you want to see in the future?
A. More visualization - we want to see more visualization and more customization in visualization. Like I mentioned above, more visuals could potentially eliminate the need for other types of tools.
And DB SQL for Community Edition!
When and why did you start using Databricks Community?
A. I was trying to find an answer for an error I was getting and I stumbled upon a helpful Community post after some searching. Then I realized Databricks has a real Community; I thought it was just a simple forum at first, but once I started clicking around I realized there was more Databricks and industry content.
When I learned that others had questions that were unanswered, I just jumped in to share what I know.
The leaderboard is really rewarding. After I post 4 - 5 answers, I check the leaderboard. I want to get in top 25! 😎
I can show off my Community Champion status on the leaderboard as part of my quarterly review at work!
What’s your favorite thing about being on Databricks Community?
A. Learning. The learning curve for this type of work is massive, and always changing. The Community Members here share so much helpful knowledge.
There are so many hidden features and hidden bugs, and it's much easier to think through it together. The Community provides a "hive mind" around things like that. I learn a lot about the product by exploring different community posts, discussions, and features. And there are always hacks from other Community users! "Instead of solving in one shot, there are 3 workaround steps".
I can use this learning in my work. I can know for sure when a solution is not provided out of the box, and the community says: "we can do it this way!".
When I don’t get response on The Databricks Community, I reach out to my Account Team.
Pivoting a little: What’s your favorite hobby?
A. Plane-spotting, and reading about aviation ✈️
Where do you see yourself in 3 years?
A. Professionally, as a Data Architect.
What’s your favorite non-profit organization or cause to contribute to?
A. LifeBlo/od in Australia. They are saving lives! It’s not just an organization for people in emergencies, every component of blo/od can be used for so many different purposes like research, developing vaccines, transfusions, and more!
What are your social media handles?
A. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aman-sehgal-403a098a/
Thank you for sharing a bit about your life and professional journey, and for letting us 'take a piece of greatness' from you. @Aman Sehgal . Let Aman know what questions you have for him below!
